cold weather strategy

W

Wozxxx86

i need money
Joined
Mar 12, 2009
Messages
239
just wanting some feed back on peoples thoughts of cold weather starting and warm up. things such as long idle/ short idle time. plug it in or dont etc. best warm up procedure. just curius because ive heard so many things. such as conflicting views about idleing
 
How cold are we talking? Here it gets to -30F. I have to leave it plugged in or there's no chance of starting at all.

For idle, some people rig up cold high idle's, I just wedge a stick on the pedal and let it idle at about 1500 for a couple minutes in neutral.
 
Wozxxx86 said:
no specific temp, just in general.
Click to expand...

The procedures you hear are going to vary a lot if you don't give a specific temp range you're worried about. You'll get responses from guys down south stating that they have no problems with setups that would never work on a DD up north.

We routinely see temps in the -20 to -30 degrees F range in the winter, an occasional colder blast as well. I usually run 16 degrees timing (winter months), conservative injectors, fuel additive, 5w40 synthetic oil, and plug it in for a few hours in the morning when I can. I don't have any way of using a block heater at work so on the realllllly cold days I'll go out on one of my breaks and let the motor run for a few minutes to keep everything loose and cooperative at the end of the day. Other than that, no starting issues to speak of. More times than not it will fire quickly even without a block heater. Keep a good set of batteries in the thing too.

IMHO, don't waste your time and fuel trying to warm the engine up before taking off. They never will. Just let it run for a few minutes to get the oil freed up a bit and lubing the parts it needs to and then go out and drive it. Putting a load on it will generate heat, babying them won't. It often is cold enough here that if I slow down and get off the interstate the coolant temps will drop because the engine isn't working as hard and then I'll have no heat.
 
when i said cold weather i figured people would guess anything below freezing.
id say that i dont have problems even after letting my tuck sit over night at -10 without the block heater. i only ask this because some people swear by letting it idle for 15 min before driving, while others say get in and go. and some just use stuff like stanadyne and say that thats why their truck still starts. i know everything should be taken with a grain of salt.
 
idling to get things moving at extremely low temp is fine... idling to warm something up is going to cause accelerated ring wear IMO
 
idling a cummins wont make heat when the engine is stone cold, even for 15 minutes. i use the block heater, let it idle for 5 minutes, then drive under 10lbs of boost in a high gear to generate high egt's without boost. beating a cold cummins will most def have a negative effect in the long run and your hg wont like it.


i got a circulating heat pump for my cooliant system this winter! well see how that works!
 
With my Espar, I jump in and go. Let it get oil pressure, and thats about it. If I didn't set my Espar, I'll let it idle while I scrape the windows, then jump in and go. I obviously drive it much easier if its stone cold, but I'm not gonna let it idle for 15 minutes. Do that, and my EGT's would be lucky if they are over 150 on the gauge. Keep in mind, my gauge reads 70 even if its -40 out. I've had my 12v for 2 winters now, temps down to -35 to -40, and I've never had a no start condition in it.
 
Tate said:
I've had my 12v for 2 winters now, temps down to -35 to -40, and I've never had a no start condition in it.
Click to expand...

Have you started it at those temps without any preheat? Just curious, I really am not interested in experimenting and finding out how cold I can go without any preheat and then getting stuck somewhere.


To clarify my last post, I wouldn't advocate beating on the truck when cold, it is just that putting some load on it will help warm it up. Letting the truck sit idling to "warm up" will do nothing but waste fuel and potentially cause wear.
 
I only let it high idle for a couple minutes to get parts moving. But yeah, the best way is to put a light load on it.

Depending how cold it is there, it might never come to temp without highway speeds or a similar load. Mine never warms up in town, and usually doesn't start making heat until about 10 miles on the highway.
 
I sure miss the 3 cylinder high idle from my 01, I wonder if there is some conversion you could do on these 12vers?
 
OrangeNV said:
idling a cummins wont make heat when the engine is stone cold, even for 15 minutes. i use the block heater, let it idle for 5 minutes, then drive under 10lbs of boost in a high gear to generate high egt's without boost. beating a cold cummins will most def have a negative effect in the long run and your hg wont like it.
Click to expand...

10psi boost on a basically stone cold engine is a lot IMO, also lugging it and fueling it in a high gear you're likely washing down cylinders with unburned fuel. . . just a thought. If you're rolling blue or worse white smoke then that is likely happening.

I go pretty easy keeping it under 5psi boost until the temp gauge starts to move.
 
VMacKenzie said:
10psi boost on a basically stone cold engine is a lot IMO, also lugging it and fueling it in a high gear you're likely washing down cylinders with unburned fuel. . . just a thought. If you're rolling blue or worse white smoke then that is likely happening.

I go pretty easy keeping it under 5psi boost until the temp gauge starts to move.
Click to expand...

my truck is tuned, it doesnt pour smoke when im under 10lb, and i dont have the pedal to the floor. i dont consider anything i do to my truck excessive. ive been through one hg, dont need to do another one for being dumb.
 
mondtster said:
Have you started it at those temps without any preheat? Just curious, I really am not interested in experimenting and finding out how cold I can go without any preheat and then getting stuck somewhere.


To clarify my last post, I wouldn't advocate beating on the truck when cold, it is just that putting some load on it will help warm it up. Letting the truck sit idling to "warm up" will do nothing but waste fuel and potentially cause wear.
Click to expand...

Done -30 without running the Espar (Espar failed to light for me). Colder than that has been with the Espar running. I've never plugged this truck in since I bought it. When its that cold, I cycled the grids twice and it fired pretty much right away. And about five seconds later, you get the terrible PS groan.
 
mondtster said:
Have you started it at those temps without any preheat? Just curious, I really am not interested in experimenting and finding out how cold I can go without any preheat and then getting stuck somewhere.


To clarify my last post, I wouldn't advocate beating on the truck when cold, it is just that putting some load on it will help warm it up. Letting the truck sit idling to "warm up" will do nothing but waste fuel and potentially cause wear.
Click to expand...

I started mine up in -20* this winter without being plug in, it was a *****, but I just pedalled it when turning it over, and let it sit there at 1500rpm at start-up for a minute walked inside for about 5 and came back and drove home.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top